The most important matches in big tennis tournaments don’t usually occur in the second round. But if Venus Williams — who rocketed past Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-2 to reach the Indian Wells semifinals — finds herself standing with the trophy this weekend, it’ll be the second round match she’ll remember.
Because 20 years ago Venus made her first trip to the Indian Wells semifinals at age 18. Back then it looked like no one could stop her, that she was about to do things in women’s tennis that had never been done before. And while Venus has achieved plenty (7 Grand Slam singles titles) in the two decades since that early promise, someone else did the things in women’s tennis that had never been done before. Yup, Venus’s little sister Serena remade the record books and established herself as the most dominant tennis player of all time.
That’s the same Serena Williams, by the way, who Venus beat in the second round at Indian Wells 2018 — 6-3, 6-4. Yes, it’s a post-baby Serena just re-entering the sport after a 14-month maternity break, but it was still Serena Williams. And frankly it is unlikely that Venus will face as talented a challenger in her further quest for the Indian Wells title. Venus faces the Russian Daria Kasatkina in the semifinal.
